Robbie Bowman leads the way with 130 while Jim Twiddy takes six-wicket haul as Durham Boys’ Under 18s got their first Championship victory of 2026 against Leicestershire at Brandon.
After being put in to bat by the visitors, Durham enjoyed a strong start with several partnerships in the top order as they cruised to 209 for two.
Faizan Ghumman notched 51 before Luke Symington and Jim Twiddy put on 98 together, Symington making 49 with nine fours.
Twiddy crafted Durham’s top score of the first innings with his 73 coming from 138 balls featuring 13 boundaries.
A run-a-ball 61 from Owen Harwood led the response for the Young Ds with Will Alexander (31) and Isaac Tate (29*) also adding useful lower-order runs as Will Gidman’s side declared on 388 for nine after 87 overs.
Shahid Patel led with the ball for the Young Foxes with 3/78 while Theo Marshall and Ali Farooq claimed two apiece.
The visitors had a strong start with the bat too, openers Sachin Sagger (63) and Arun Kalsi (96) helped the Midlands side to 185/3 before the latter fell agonisingly short of three figures.
Suhail Noori and Farooq added 47 apiece before the visitors declared on 320 for seven having batted 63.1 overs, trailing by 68.
Tate and Teddy Minto both struck twice while Twiddy and Charlie Harmison picked up one apiece.
Twiddy made 46 from 36 with six fours and two sixes as Durham attempted to set the Foxes a target but were reduced to 82 for four in the 16th.
Robbie Bowman then took control as he blitzed 130 from 101 balls, scoring 15 fours and seven sixes.
The ‘keeper-batter shared 174 with Will Alexander in 165 balls leading the Ds past 250.
Bowman was dismissed on day three and wickets continued to fall, leaving Alexander unbeaten on 67 when Durham declared 302/8 setting Leicestershire a target of 371.
Zac Mawdsley gave Durham the perfect start having Sagger caught third ball for nought.
Leicestershire were then going well, sharing 80 in 65 balls for the second wicket before Alexander took Durham’s second.
Twiddy then picked up the next four wickets with Leicestershire reaching 227.
Teddy Minto and Twiddy then picked up the final four wickets, claiming two each as Durham dismissed Leicestershire for 299 to claim a 71-run victory – their first of the Championship campaign.
Twiddy finished with standout figures of 6/72 from 23.5 overs.